On Wednesday, 9 July 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured with Namibia's highest civilian award called the 'Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis'. Namibian President Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah presented the award to him during his visit to the country, which marked the final leg of his five-nation tour. This is Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to Namibia and only the third time an Indian prime minister has travelled to the country.

This is the 27th international award given to Prime Minister Modi by a foreign government since he assumed office in May 2014.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi and President Nandi Ndaitwah held bilateral talks after which both countries signed four agreements to deepen cooperation in several areas, including energy and healthcare.

Among the agreements is a plan to set up an Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Namibia, while another focuses on collaboration in the field of Health and Medicine.

Namibia also officially joined two major global initiatives, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Global Biofuels Alliance.

The formal letters of acceptance for these memberships were exchanged during Prime Minister Modi’s visit.

Namibia also announced that it will roll out a digital payment system later this year, made possible through a UPI technology licensing agreement signed between the National Payments Corporation of India and the Bank of Namibia in April 2024.

In his speech at the Namibian Parliament, Prime Minister Modi spoke with warmth and referred to the parliament as “a temple of democracy” and said he was honoured to speak there as “a representative of the mother of democracy” and brought greetings from 1.4 billion Indians.

He thanked Namibia for sending cheetahs to India, saying, “I am grateful to you for sending the cheetahs. They have sent a message to you — ‘Everything is fine.’ They are having a great time here.”

The Prime Minister also recalled India’s role during Namibia’s fight for independence and said, “Even before our own independence, India raised the issue of South West Africa at the United Nations. It was an Indian lieutenant general, Dewan Prem Chand, who led the UN peacekeeping force in Namibia. India is proud to have stood with you — not just in words, but in action.”

He also congratulated Namibia on recently electing its first woman president and added, “We understand and share your pride. In India, we too proudly say Madam President. The constitution of India gave a daughter of a poor tribal family the opportunity to become president of the world’s largest democracy. And someone like me, born into a poor family, the chance to be prime minister — not once, but three times. Those who have nothing have the guarantee of the constitution.”